Manchester United come under criticism after unveiling new strip

onFebruary 19, 2012

Manchester United’s strip for the next season was revealed by a newspaper this week and has come in for some strict criticism. The new home strip is a far cry from their usual plain red shirts and has a checked pattern all over it. The new kit will be United’s fifth in five seasons and they have come under considerable flak with many labeling their latest move as one intended to make profits from fans’ loyalty.

In fact, the majority of the critics are parents, who have to bear the cost whenever a new kit is released. Siobhan Freegard, who is the co-founder of Netmums, UK’s biggest parenting website was quoted by the Daily Mirror as saying, “Kids naturally want the newest kit to keep up in the playground, but it adds up to almost £100 per child to buy a new home and away top. This is an ­incredible amount of money for any ­family to find.”

In an age when football has become more of a business than a sport, one cannot really blame United for trying to increase revenues. However, looking at it from the fans’ point of view, the constant changes in kits does tend to hurt them financially and perhaps clubs with massive support such as United should try and decrease the cost, at least for kids, if they intend to change their strips so frequently.